Remembering Sunday
by Alic3Paig3
Summary: I have been inactive for some time but sudden inspiration hit and thus you have all received a fanfiction. This is based on the song "Remembering Sunday" by All Time Low. Adrien loves Ladybug more than anything in the entire world. He'd give anything to find her and explain how deeply he loves her, until the world crumbles around him.


Adrien woke up that morning groaning, his head was pounding. The sunlight was too bright, and the world seemed too loud. Stumbling to the bathroom, he kicked a bottle out of the way, hearing it clatter mad his head pound worse.

He avoided looking at the mirror; he couldn't imagen how horrid he looked. He hadn't been sleeping, only the alcohol knocked him out, and his hair hadn't been brushed in days. His eyes stung with unshed tears just thinking about the last week make his heart break even more.

It'd been years since they'd defeated Hawkmoth, but still they hadn't revealed their identities; she hadn't wanted to. She had them both give up their Kwami's, though he doubted even Plaggs whining voice could jolt him out of this slump.

She'd disappeared without a word, and slowly France accepted she wasn't coming back. At night they could see the famed Chat Noir on rooftops hoping the find some inkling that his Lady was still out there, maybe she was looking for him, but eventually he'd stopped. He'd given Plagg up and continued with life, knowing that she had disappeared. She hadn't even looked for him, hadn't considered how deeply he loved her. Instead she just left him with nothing, only his memories remained but those only caused the ache in his heart to deepen.

Only in this past week had finally he'd let himself begin hoping again. It was Marinette who'd given him hope. He'd run into her at a fashion show, he hadn't even realized they were her works. He was accompanying Chloe who'd dragged him to the event, and he was so detached from the world that it never had occurred to him to even look at the headlining designer.

She was as beautiful as he remembered her, if not even more, but what shocked his was a tattoo hidden under the strap of her dress. Her hair partially covered it, but he'd recognized it right away, his lady's signature. Five black spots perfectly drawn in a circle with a mark through the middle spot. He'd watched her sign thousands of pictures, and no one was ever able to replicate her perfect signature. Of course, she was a designer and perfectionist and she'd created that signature. It was hers through and through, only her penmanship could be that effortlessly perfect.

She'd greeted them both with a huge smile and a hug. He couldn't even breath, of course she'd always been so close, so obtainable but he'd been to focused on her superhero persona that he hadn't noticed her. Eventually Nino had informed him of her crush, but he'd brushed it off unable to return her affections instead he'd chased a ghost with feelings that would never be returned. Until he'd seen her that night. He'd wanted to start crying but instead he smiled brightly, the biggest he has in some time, and asked her about her life. He wanted to know everything, how she spent her days, if he still could win her heart, if he could mend the past.

She was gracious to answer everything, ever so often she'd excuse herself from their little group to go greet someone important or hug a friend. She flits about like the butterflies she used to purify. Eventually the show began, and she'd disappeared behind the scenes to orchestrate everyone and make sure everything was running smoothly. He barely saw the models strutting down the walk instead he was staring intently at the back of the stage hoping for a glimpse of her as she peeked around the wall separating the backstage from the stage.

Chloe's idle chatter faded into the background as she talked about the designs. Somehow, he'd missed a lot about Marinette; how she'd managed to overcome and make friends with Chloe. Her determination and passion that flowed from her heart in waves. Even the small smile that remained plastered on her face as she watched everyone else; the same one his lady had when she looked at the people of Paris going about their lives around them.

Finally, the lights came up and Marinette stepped out to give a speech. She thanked them all for coming and promised more shows in the future. Everyone went wild for her not a single person was disappointed, and the cameras flashed like crazy and everyone walked the stage a final time to showcase this line of clothing.

He managed to catch her before she disappeared again and asked for her number. She smiled and rattled of her number making him fumble for his phone and punch in the numbers with shaking fingers. Then with a small wave and smile she was gone, not a single trace of her. His eyes couldn't follow her into the crowd, and there wasn't any sign that she'd just been there other than his phone with her contact information still up on the screen.

When Chloe had dropped him off that night he crawled back into bed, past all the bottles that lay scattered around. He was lucky that Chloe hadn't insisted to come in or else he wouldn't have gotten off with just being dragged to an event. He vowed to clean up the apartment later but instead he lay staring at his black screen willing a text from her to pop up. Hours passed and his eyes drooped when finally, a little buzz sounded.

_Hey! Sorry for such a late text. Thank you for coming tonight. It was lovely to see you again. _

Adrien held his phone close and cried, tears wracked his body leaving him unable to reply until he woke the next morning. He'd been so happy she'd texted; he wasn't sure what he would've done if she hadn't replied. She was happy to see him, and that was the only thing he could focus on for the rest of the day. For once he'd slept and showered. Of his own accord things were picked up and cleaned. He'd even found himself disgusted at how badly his depression had consumed his life. He'd called Chloe and asked her to take him to a salon; to help him put the pieces of his life back in order so he could finally obtain his lady's love. His phone finally buzzed again when he and Chloe were seated at a café for a late lunch.

_Sure! I'm free next Sunday in the morning, does that work? I'm sorry I'm so busy. _

Chloe broke off mid-sentence, "Adrien are you even listening to me? I don't know what made you so happy and I'm glad to finally see you taking care of yourself, but don't let it be because of a person."

Chloe didn't explicitly say her name, but Adrien could tell who she was referring to. "Don't worry. I'm just excited to reconnect with Marinette. I forgot how much I cared about her." Adrien gave his charming smile and Chloe decided to drop it. She wasn't sure that Adrien knew how to be happy without someone in his life, but if anyone could help him, she supposed it would be Marinette. Afterall, she'd even helped Chloe at times.

The days following passed in a blur for Adrien, the only things he could focus on were Marinette's texts, he small updates about her life were like oxygen when he's drowning. They made the days bearable, and he'd even responded with some of his best puns hoping that she'd remember her partner. To remember all the memories of their shared past. To love him as much as he did her.

Finally, the morning came, and Adrien walked into the café to find her already seated at a table sipping on a coffee and glimpsing out the window in between glancing around the room. Looking for him. He waved when her eyes finally settled on him, and she returned with a small smile of her own.

"Hey Marinette, good to see you again." Adrien slid into the chair across from her, his gaze taking in all the details he hadn't noticed the night of the fashion show. Her hair was longer though it was still pulled back in one tail instead of two.

"Likewise, I was surprised to see you at the fashion show. Last I heard you were traveling abroad." Adrien felt embarrassed, had it really been that long since he'd spoken to his friends. No wonder Chloe was worried, he'd come back nearly six months ago from traveling. At first, he'd gone hoping that leaving Paris would finally give his heart a chance to heal but it only masked his grief and made him long to be back. Just in case she decided to look for him. Now she was here in front of him and it was bliss.

"Yeah sorry I guess it slipped my mind to let everyone know I was back. Lots of things on my mind. But how about you have you traveled any since graduating? You wanted to go to China, right?" He recalled one of the peaceful nights he'd had with Ladybug all those years ago. She confided in him that she wanted to go to China to see all the things her mom had told her about and experience the difference in culture.

Marinette gave him a strange look as she answered, "O-Oh yeah. I ended up going with my Mama and Papa, we got to see most of my family. Including my great uncle." He did remember the Chef, and he remember how fond he was of his family.

"That's great! I'm glad you got to travel." Through out their short lunch they chuckled about old times and caught up on each other's lives. Occasionally though Marinette would suddenly go quiet like she'd see a ghost or look up quickly almost as if she was making sure it was still him. He couldn't help it, but a little bit of his Chat Noir personality slipped out around her. Maybe if her was lucky she'd figure it out and he wouldn't even have to tell her himself.

"Thank you again for breakfast Adrien, it was lovely." Marinette was gathering her things ready to depart and leave him alone once again.

"It was my pleasure My Lady. I hope I'll be seeing you again soon." He saw Marinette freeze, and start at him for a moment.

"R-right. I'll be going then." She quickly rushed out the door leaving Adrien dumbfounded by her reaction. Had he been wrong? Or maybe she didn't realize he was Chat Noir and she thought a civilian had figured her out? He'd call her later tonight, once she had time, and he'd explain everything. This time he wasn't going to let her disappear so easily.

Night fell quickly with no response from Marinette, he stared intently at his phone and wondered if maybe he'd underestimated how long her days were. But he'd talk to her tomorrow for sure. Tomorrow he'd let her know how much he loved her, he long he'd been waiting for her. Tomorrow.

When he awoken the next morning, he'd checked his phone immediately hoping there'd be a message waiting for him. Nothing only a few emails, and some app notifications but no calls no texts. Nothing. He called her phone, listening to ring before going to her voicemail.

"Hey Marinette, I wanted to talk to you. It's kind of important so call me when you can. Bye." He started at the phone even after the screen had gone black. Surely, she'd call back soon or at least text him. Maybe she really was overwhelmed with work, he'd have to ask her about anything he could do to help. Being so busy surely couldn't be good for her health. The day passed, and he'd messaged her a few times, mostly checking on her, had something happened? He'd give him till the evening to before trying to call her again. He remembered in school she was constantly forgetting her phone and when she did have it on her it was usually dead. Maybe it was a simple case like that.

In the meantime, he reached out to Nino apologizing for his absence and letting him know about everything that had happened since. He paced the apartment, running his hands through his hair. It was getting late and still nothing. He'd gotten a text from Chloe that went unanswered but nothing from Marinette. He'd called her already a few times each time leaving short messages urging her to call back.

By the next morning he hadn't slept, and he was wracked with worry. Now whenever he called there way no room for a message, and no rings. Her phone was turned off, and he only knew of her parent's address. Maybe he should try to see if they knew what was going on, had she lost her phone or left it somewhere?

He rushed out the door still in his clothes from yesterday, and bag under his eyes. He rushed over only pausing momentarily to make sure they were in fact open.

"Welcome in! What can I get you?" Sabine turned around and greeted him warmly.

"Hello Ms. Cheng, I'm sorry to intrude but have you spoken with Marinette recently, I was trying to reach her, but I couldn't get through on her phone."

Sabine stood still silently starting at him, "Absolutely not! Please leave were very busy right now."

Adrien glanced around not seeing anyone else in sight, "But if you'd just please let her know-"

Sabine didn't even get a chance to utter another syllable before her husband strode out of the kitchen, "Leave now." The man didn't even offer an explanation as he shooed him out the door, slamming the door and locking it. He watched as they both disappeared into the back not even bothering to flip the open sign to closed.

He stared at the empty store for several moments. Marinette's parents had never been anything less than hospitable. Had he done something wrong? Maybe he seemed crazy rushing in so urgently, but this was important! How else was he supposed to contact her if he couldn't get through on her phone? He didn't have an email or an address.

The sky began darkening with a storm with Adrien finally decided to stop lingering on the outside of the store and head back home. He last hope was Chloe, he hadn't heard anything back from Nino, and he didn't even know anyway to contact Alya.

The phone rang a few times before he finally heard Chloes voice greeting him, "Hey Ad-"

"Chloe please tell me you know how to contact Marinette! I've been trying to reach her the last few days and haven't been able to. Can you give me here address? I want to go-"

Chloe cut him off mid-sentence, "Adrien, she moved. She's in America right now."

"What? B-but why?" Adrien stopped and collapsed on the bench beside him. He couldn't believe she'd just up and leave like that. Maybe the time difference was why she wasn't calling him back but why not tell him she was moving. He would've gone with her. He would've-

Chloe's soft voice broke him from his thoughts, "She's going to be working over in America for a while to build some more popularity. Adrien why didn't you tell me you were Chat Noir?"

"W-what? Who told you that?" Adrien was shocked by the turn in the conversation, but he couldn't focus on that now. "Chloe please just tell me where I can find her, I can catch a flight in a few hours as go meet her in person. If you know about me being Chat Noir, then you probably know that-"

"She's ladybug. Yeah, I've known for a while. She told me a long time ago. Adrien… did you even really see Marinette or are you still chasing Ladybug? You know that isn't her right? You fell in love with what you thought she is. I thought maybe she could help pull you out of this slump, but I didn't know you were Chat Noir. Everyone knew how much you idolized her, but you never really saw her did you?"

"I… no Chloe I love her. More than anything." He felt small drops begin to fall from the sky and looked up to find the streets mainly empty. Only a few people where rushing about trying to get to their destinations before the rain fell any harder.

"I don't believe that Adrien, because if you did you would've fallen in love with Marinette too. I think you loved the idea of her." Chloe's voice was soft like talking to a child or whispering a secret that shouldn't be heard. "I'll come by to check on you tomorrow." With that Chloe disconnected the call.

Alone. He was all alone again; the rain was pouring masking the tears that were rushing down his face. No, of course he'd loved her! She was the only one he'd ever cared about. She was brave, strong, independent, courageous, and… and… she was ladybug. He loved Ladybug, and Marinette! She was everything to him and now she was gone. The same as before, without so much as a word, she'd left him again. All alone without anyone by his side. He stood up, with shaking legs, and started the long walk towards home. His thoughts swirled, trying to meld Marinette, and Ladybug together in his mind, but all he found were difference. Ladybug wasn't afraid of anything! She didn't run away or back down, but she was a hero it was her job to protect people to be all those things. Marinette was strong but she knew when to back down from a fight or throw in the towel. She was someone with faults and imperfections, someone attainable.

The rain only got worse, soaked him to the core, he had loved Ladybug, but maybe, just maybe, he hadn't really loved the girl beneath the mask after all.


End file.
